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The provincial government wants to reduce Alberta’s reliance on coal-fired electricity generation, but opposition members say the governing Tories lack the political will to phase out the fossil fuel.

During an all-party MLA forum at the University of Alberta on Thursday, Donna Kennedy-Glans — Alberta’s newly-appointed Associate Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy — said the Progressive Conservative government is committed to “doing something” to reduce coal.

“We’re a market-based environment. We have to do this in a way that means the lights don’t go off and that’s what I care about,” she said, adding any possible coal phase-out would need to make sense economically, socially and environmentally.

The pressure is on, as the federal government has a 2020 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 17% below 2005 levels, aiming to cut 214 megatonnes in emissions. Coal-fired electricity is responsible for 11% of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

Kennedy-Glans said 52% of the Alberta’s deregulated electricity market currently comes from coal.

“And yes, we all want to reduce that, but if we turn all those plants off in the next ten years, we have to be able to fill that gap. I don’t think that makes good sense,” she said, adding clean coal is still an option.

“I think that’s a conversation we need to have.”

The forum was hosted by the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) alongside the Centre for Health Promotion Studies EcoPath and the Asthma Society of Canada.

CAPE says research shows coal-plant pollution contributes to over 100 deaths and over 4,000 asthma episodes in Alberta each year, costing the province about $300 million in the health-care system annually.

Alberta NDP environment critic Rachel Notley said the government needs to adopt an aggressive policy to get rid of coal.

“If we are going to go to the rest of the country and the rest of the world and request the social license for the production and growth of the oilsands… It seems to me that there’s no good reason for us to tie ourselves to an electricity production mechanism that is the dirtiest in the world,” she said.

Joe Anglin, Wildrose environment and utilities critic, said the Wildrose supports the decommissioning of coal plants for environmental, health and efficiency reasons. He said the party has a plan to make up the difference with natural gas and hydroelectric.

“Also a big part of this has to be the renewable energies,” he said. “How do we get there? How do we invite more investments into renewable energy and supplement and advance what we want to do?”

Liberal health critic Dr. David Swann said the government needs to look into subsidizing non-renewable energies.

“Let’s create a level playing field for what we know is healthier and much more sustainable,” he said.

Coal is currently being eliminated as a power source in Ontario, with the last plant expected to be shut down by this December.

As Advertised in the Calgary SUN

Alberta Tories lack the political will to phase out coal: Critics

The provincial government wants to reduce Alberta’s reliance on coal-fired electricity generation, but opposition members say the governing Tories lack the political will to phase out the fossil fuel.

During an all-party MLA forum at the University of Alberta on Thursday, Donna Kennedy-Glans — Alberta’s newly-appointed Associate Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy — said the Progressive Conservative government is committed to “doing something” to reduce coal.

“We’re a market-based environment. We have to do this in a way that means the lights don’t go off and that’s what I care about,” she said, adding any possible coal phase-out would need to make sense economically, socially and environmentally.

The pressure is on, as the federal government has a 2020 target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 17% below 2005 levels, aiming to cut 214 megatonnes in emissions. Coal-fired electricity is responsible for 11% of Canada’s total greenhouse gas emissions.